The subject matter herein relates generally to receptacle connectors having alignment features.
High speed electrical connectors typically transmit and receive data signals across a mating interface. For example, some known receptacle connectors are mounted to a circuit board and include a card slot that receives a card edge of a plug connector at the mating interface. The receptacle connectors have contacts with deflectable spring beams at the mating interface that are spring loaded against the plug connector when the plug connector is loaded into the slot. However, known receptacle connectors are not without disadvantages. For example, the beams of the contacts may be over-deflected causing stress and/or plastic deformation, which may lead to low contact normal force on subsequent mating cycles.
A need remains for a receptacle connector that limits beam travel to reduce the risk of plastic deformation of the metal contacts.